Kanoon II 20, 6746 Volume II Issue 48 January 20, 1997
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A Weekly Online Publication of the ZENDA Assyrian Newsagency
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T H I S W E E K I N Z E N D A
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The Lighthouse......................
Love & Unity
Good Morning Bet-Nahrain............
Arabization of Mosul
Surfs Up............................
"I could not hold my tears..."
Surfers Corner......................
Online Chats with Guest Personalities
News Digest.........................
The British Museum and Library
Uday Has Gangrene
News Bits...........................
No Entries!
Calendar of Events..................
Hannibal Alkhas' Last Ziggurats
British Museum Lectures
Entracte............................
No New Entries
Intelligentsia......................
Classes, Lectures & Meetings
Assyrian Surfing Posts..............
Pump up the Volume..................
Supporter & Enemy
Back to the Future..................
Solar Eclipse of 763 B.C.
Assyrian Marco Polo
Literatus...........................
The Birth of Man
This Week in History................
A First Assyrian Ladies Auxillary
Bravo...............................
Assyriologist Dr. Stefn Maul
The Directory.......................
News Sources
Bshena..............................
Modesto, Toronto, and Compass
Salute..............................
Albert, Firas, and Nineveh
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THE L I G H
T H O U S E
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LOVE & UNITY
Almost every Assyrian lecturer who has the floor for five
minutes or more,
does not fail to tell us to be united, to love one another
and to keep our
language alive. But they never show us the path
that will lead us to the
realization of these emotional ideals. Theoretically,
LOVE AND UNITY are
admirable terms, sufficiently inspiring so as to urge
a poet to the height
of penmanship; or a composer to weave colorfully in the
patterns of his
musical tissue. But their magnificence having started
with the sound of
the words, likewise dies no sooner their pronouncement
is ended. Coming
down to solid ground we shall say that, LOVE AND UNITY
have no practical
weight in the scales of accomplishment; for they are
just words blown into
thin air, like the soap bubbles made by an idle boy that
cannot withstand
even the breath of their lazy creator.
If the representative of the people of the world would
not, now and then,
agree to sit around a table and discuss their differences
on the basis of
Wisdom, not Love, and come to some kind of mutual agreement,
the waters of
the entire globe would be tinged with human blood; all
the preachings of
all the prophets and philosophers would not do an atom
of good.
Let us understand well that LOVE, in itself, is not a
weapon but the
product of wise deeds, the outcome of an orderly activity.
It may be
likened to the fragrant blossoms that open up luxuriantly
on the branches
of a plant whose roots are embedded in a fertile soil
of a well coordinated
system. Such is mass-love. It is not the
producer but the produced. It
sharply differs from the unselfish love of a a mother
for her child.
The progressive nations who have powerful standing governments,
do not
depend upon love for the implementation of their laws
and order, rather on
the efficiency of a well organized and disciplinary system.
But as we have
mentioned before our case is unique; there is not one
like it. We have no
government to enforce its laws; we have no land where
such an act of
enforcement could be carried out. If there were
to arise another Hammurabba
today, and if her were to receive the Code of Law from
the hands of the
Almighty again, we would profit by it as much or as little
as an experienced
helmsman would from his beautiful and well-built ship
in the middle of the
Sahara Desert.
Let us repeat once more: we are scattered all over the
globe; we have been
chopped into pieces by our religious sentiments; we have
not the smallest
piece of land that may call our own; we have no political
leadership
recognized by majority; we have no funds of any kind
to support our
educational and welfare activities, which are at a pitifully
low level.
What is worse of all is that with all the foregoing handicaps
we pride
ourselves in imitating the advanced societies with our
sham progressive
activities such as: our annual conventions celebrated
in topmost class of
hotels, our honorary awards, our pompous dinners, our
senseless and
useless radio programs, our election of man or lady of
the year, etc.
All these gaudy activities are nothing but a coat of
thin bright paint on
the boards of a coffin of which the contents are decomposing
rapidly and
radiating repulsive odors.
William Daniel
From "Assyrians of Today, Their Problem, And A Solution"
1969
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G O O D
M O R N I N G B
E T - N A H R A I N
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(ZNUP: London) The Iraqi National Congress
is claiming that non-Arabs families living around Mosul are forced to Dahuk.
The group says the families have been replaced by Arab families from Mosul.
Mosul and its surrounding villages lie in that part of northern Iraq
controlled by the Iraqi government.
(ZNUP: Ankara) -- Iran's Foreign Minister met an Iraqi
Kurdish leader Tuesday amid allegations that Iraq's government had formed
an alliance with a rival Kurdish faction. The Iraqi National Congress or
INC, told United Press International that the Kurdish Democratic Party
of Massoud Barzani had formed a "high committee for security coordination"
with the Iraqi government. The committee takes orders "directly" from Iraqi
President Saddam Hussein's son, Uday. Separately in Tehran, Iranian
Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Velayati met
Jalal Talabani, the leader of the Patriotic Union of
Kurdistan, which is
the KDP's main rival for control of the Kurdish autonomous
zone of
northern Iraq.
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S U R F S
U P !
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"I noticed that you quoted the article I sent in last week concerning the Assyrians in South America. Unfortunately my name was misspelled along with a few other words. No problem, perhaps a business case exists for an Assyrian spell checker... :-) "
Jim Esia
Houston
[The names of Mr. Esia, a ZENDA reader, and Mr. Velayati
of the Islamic Republic of Iran were among many other victims of our incorrect
use of the new email software we recently purchased. Pleaze akkcept
hour sinsere apologeez.]
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"I could not hold my tears as I read Marian's poem [See LITERATUS in the Last issue: "Brown Sister"]... Thank you ZENDA for reminding us of our struggle and thank you Marian for reminding us how 'precious and beautiful and respected' we are. Despite of what I hear and see at the conventions and in the meeting places of our so called leaders I am still very proud of my Assyrian heritage, my Assyrian identity, and of my being an Assyrian woman."
RamsinaK
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"I am looking for a list of Assyrian(Aramic, Syriac, Chaldean) names/phrases that has very nice meaning in order to name our new baby that we expect by the end of this month. For example, we named our daughter "AMTHEH D'MARRYA" which a phrase that I took from the Holy Bible(Luke 1:38) that means "handmaid of the Lord". For short we call her AMTHA. Her name is very unique, it has very nice meaning, it is Assyrian, and we love it. There is a lot of names like Don Jack, Adrian Rick, ..etc which has NO meaning in our language and why I should name my child with something that does has ANY meaning in our language? Thank you in advance and below is my email address which you can give/publish to anyone.
Sam Kosa
San Diego, California
Wisam.Kosa@SanDiegoCa.Ncr.Com
[For many centuries, under religius and political persecutions
and often through ignorance, Assyrians have been adopting names derived
from languages different from Akkadian and Aramaic. Mardin (M), Larsa
(F), Onita (F), Pauldin (M), Sharona (F), and Beniel (M) are among the
many beautiful Assyrian names suitable for use in Western communities.
Need more? Contact us again and indicate your choice of first or
last letter and syllable (i.e. "M" or "Mar") or perhaps relate a concept
(i.e. freedom) and emotion (i.e. love), etc. ]
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"Last week I was called upon by a close Lawyer friend
of mine, to translate for a 24 year old Assyrian whose plight to freedom
led him to the Du Page County jail awaiting his trial to be accepted as
a Political Asylum in this country. He had been there for 73 days already,
as the trial process was dragging on. What shocked me most about
this young man was the ordeal he had been through back in Iraq since he
was 19 years old, he had been imprisoned twice, simply for trying to help
his People, to prevent them from starving to death in the no-fly zone in
Northern Bet-Nahrain, he killed no one, harmed no one and did not even
bother anyone, he simply helped Assyrians. For that he was Electrically
Shocked several times, his finger was blown off, clubbed and beaten beyond
recognition and more creative techniques used to torture and frighten people
there into submission. Needless to say, I was greatly disturbed while translating,
and I hoped that there was some way that I could help his case, and get
him out of jail so that he can assume normal living, more pleasant than
what he had gone through for his last five years. Can you advise, may be
our Omta Leaders should appeal or organize something on his behalf, our
radio stations, TV's and Magazines should ask the Authorities here, to
seriously consider granting him Asylum here. His transcript is about 11
pages long, contains ugly details, perhaps not fit for the general audience,
but if I have his permission, and the Lawyer's permission, I would like
to post but a few exerpts in Zenda. Thank you, and may God protect our
people over there from the Evil that prevails there.
Sargon Yalda
Chicago
[ZENDA suggests that you contact the office of Congresswoman
Anna Eshoo in Washington and bring the young man's case to her attention.
ZEDNA will gladly print your articles in its entirety. Contact Congresswoman
Eshoo at
http://www-eshoo.house.gov/ ]
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"...I want to take this opportunity to let you know how much I enjoy reading ZENDA and to thank you for the hard work you put in week after week."
Nineveh Ponsonby
London, England
[See NEWS DIGEST for Ms. Ponsonby article on the British
Museum's news and information.]
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"I have been informed that Rev. Yousip Sermiz phone number
listed in last
issue is wrong. This correct number is (905) 607-7660."
Ashur Simon Malek
Ontario, Canada
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S U R F E R S
C O R N E R
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ON-LINE CHATS WITH ASSYRIAN CYBERSURFERS
Last week, Nineveh On-Line announced instantanrous dialogs
over the internet between several points of contact (online surfers). Albert
Gabrial of Nineveh On-Line has kindly invited ZENDA to be its first online
guest. While connected users of this free service will be able
to ask questions and comment on any topics with the designated guest.
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N E WE S
D I G E S T
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THE BRITISH LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
(ZNDA: London) Opening on Friday 31 January at the British Museum in London, is "The HSBC Money Gallery". This is the first gallery of its kind in any of the world's great museums. It presents the history of money, from the earliest records of payments found in the cuneiform tablets of Ancient Mesopotamia and the origins of coinage in Turkey and China during the 7th century BC, down to contemporary methods of electronic transfer.
Room 68, Events: Tuesdays in February and March; Family Events (17-21 February) Contact 0171 323 8511/8854 for details.
The British Library holds over a thousand books on the
subject pertaining to Assyrians. Since the British Library is a reference
library only, by law a copy of every book published in the U.K must be
kept here. Unfortunately obtaining written information is costly, for example,
the cost of obtaining a list of books with the title Assyria or Assyrian
in them, would be in the region of L200 British pounds. The Library is
open for reference from 10.00 4.45 Monday to Friday. To apply for
a reader's ticket, contact +44 171 323 8031.
SADDAM'S OLDEST SON HAS GANGRENE IN HIS LEG
(ZNUP: Baghdad) The Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's eldest son reportedly has a bullet lodged in his spine and gangrene in his leg. The British Broadcasting Corp. quotes an Iraqi opposition leader as saying Saturday that Uday Hussein has had 10 bullets removed from his body since an assassination attempt on Dec. 12 in Baghdad. On Friday, the Iraqi government-controlled media assailed France for refusing to grant a visa to Uday to allow him to be treated in French hospitals. It also warned France's decision would have repercussions.Uday has been linked to a number of political killings in Iraq. Most recently, he was said to be the driving force behind the shooting deaths of two of his brothers-in-law, who returned to Iraq in early 1996 after having defected to Jordan.
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C
A L E N D A
R OF E V
E N T S
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Thru Mar 10
Art & Empire: Treasures from Assyria in the British
Museum
National Gallery of Victoria
Melbourne, Australia
Admission: $10.00
Thru Apr 6 The
Ain Ghazal Exhibit
Smithsonian Institute
Arthur M. Sackler Gallery
Washington D.C.
AAA of Southern CA (818) 506-7577
Feb 6
"The rise and fall of Assyria"
Gallery Talk by Paul Collins
11:30 a.m.
"Ideas of the past in the ancient Near East"
Lecture by Paul Collins
1:15 p.m.
The British Museum
Great Russell Street
London WC1B 3DG,
U.K.
Tel: +44 171 636 1555
http://www.british-museum.ac.uk
Recorded information +44 171 580 1788
Feb 9
The Last Ziggurats: An Art Exhibition by Hannibal Alkhas
Awana of the Assyrian Church of the East
680 Minnesota Road
San Jose, California
3:00 pm
Mar 12
Guardians of the Gate: The Assyrian Winged Colossi
Lecturer: A. Harrak
Near and Middle Eastern Civilization
University of Toronto
St. George campus
Toronto, Canada
8:00 p.m
April 9
Recent Excavations at Gordion, Turkey:
An Achaemenid Persian Imperial Town in Central Anatolia
Lecturer: T.C. Young, Jr.
Royal Ontario Museum
Toronto, Canada
8:00 p.m
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I N T E L L I G E N T S I A
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Thursdays Nineveh
Choir under the direction of Maestro Nebu Issabey
BETA: 20000 Almaden Road
San Jose, California
8:00 pm
Fridays
Assyrian Educational & Cultural Club at
Modesto Junior College
1:00 pm
Founders Hall 108
Modesto, U.S.A.
Saturdays
Nisibis School
10:30-1:30
The Church of the East
Toronto, Canada
SUNDAYS
Assyrian Boy Scouts
Assyrian American Association of Southern California
Assyrian Club
5901 Cahuenga Blvd
North Hollywood, California
9:30am to 12:30pm
Contact Sargon Gewargis @ fishtale@juno.com
(818) 891-3705 after 7:30 pm
Assyrian Student Union
California State University, Northridge
Assyrian American Association of Southern California
Assyrian Club
5901 Cahuenga Blvd
North Hollywood, California
6:00pm
Contact Sargon Gewargis @ fishtale@juno.com
(818) 891-3705 after 7:30 pm
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A S
S Y R I A N S
U R F I N G P
O S T S
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Nineveh Kids Home Page
http://www.nineveh.com/kidsweb.htm
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P U M P UP THE V O L U
M E
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English Modern Assyrian
Supporter san/da/na [M]
Enemy
bil/dwaa/waa [M]
Note: The commonly used word "dizhmin" among the Eastern speakers of modern Assyrian, particularly speakers of the Urmie-dialect, is derived from Persian "doshman."
___________________________________________________________________________
F = Feminine M = Masculine
P = Plural
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B A C K TO THE
F U T U R E
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B.C. (June 15, 763) On an Assyrian tablet is written:
"Pur Sagale of the land of Gozan. Revolt of the city of Ashur. In
the month Sivan the sun suffered an eclipse." The eclipse is
calculated to have occured on June 15, 763 B.C. from which date many important
Assyrian chronologies have been derived.
<< Early Babylonian History, Rev. Radau >>
A.D. (1287) The Assyrian Marco Polo: Fear of Muslims outweighed the Mongol threat in Christian Europe, which launched five Crusades to the Holy Land in the 13th century. Eastern Christians often joined the Mongols in their campaigns against Muslim kingdoms. Rabban Sauma, a Nestorian Christian, traveled to Europe for Kublai in 1287, seeking to enlist the Christian monarchs as allies against Muslims in the Holy Land. Eastern counterpart of Marco Polo, he left a diary offering an eastern view of medieval Europe.
<< National Geographic Magazine, Janaury 1997>>
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L I T E
R A T U
S
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THE BIRTH OF MAN
An Ancient Mesopotamian Story
ca. 2000 B.C.
Without the sperm of a male
she gave birth to offspring
to the embryo of mankind.
When she had broaderned its shoulders,
she made a hole in the head for the mouth
she ...
and enclosed its body in an amnion,
Enki tied wool for swathing around it
and its heart rejoiced.
<<The Harps That Once..., Jackobsen>>
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T H I S W E E K
I N H I S T O R
Y
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January 20, 1944: The first Assyrian Ladies Auxiliary
group is established in the city of Kermanshah, Iran. Directed under
the guidence of Mrs. Jermain Bet-Malek, the group collects funds for the
needy families and teaches basic courses to Assyrian women .
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B R A
V O
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Höchstdotierter deutscher Förderpreis
an Heidelberger Prof. Dr. Stefan Maul
http://www.rzuser.uni-heidelberg.de/~it5/maul.htm
Rektor Prof. Dr. Peter Ulmer: „Leibniz-Preis knüpft an die herausragende Tradition der Heidelberger Assyriologie an“
Der Heidelberger Altorientalist Prof. Dr. Stefan M. Maul erhält den mit drei Millionen Mark dotierten Leibniz-Preis 1997. Prof. Dr. Peter Ulmer, Rektor der Universität Heidelberg, gratulierte dem 37jährigen Forscher und bezeichnete den Preis als hocherfreuliche wissenschaftliche Auszeichnung für den Geehrten und die Ruprecht-Karls-Universität“. Der Preis knüpfe an die herausragende Tradition der Heidelberger Assyriologie an. Er zeige außerdem, daß die hochschulpolitische Diskussion um die angeblichen „Orchideenfächer“ an der Realität vorbeiziele: „Hier wird Wissenschaft auf hohem internationalen Niveau geleistet“, unterstrich Ulmer.
Stefan M. Maul, geboren 1958 in Aachen, kam 1995 – nach einem Aufenthalt als Gastprofessor in Paris – als C4-Professor für Assyriologie nach Heidelberg. „Schon bei unseren ersten Begegnungen war ich beeindruckt von seinen umfassenden Kenntnissen im Bereich der Wissenschaft des Alten Orients und der Religionsgeschichte und von seinem großen Engagement auf diesen Gebieten“, beschreibt der Heidelberger Rektor die frühesten Gespräche mit dem neuen Leibniz-Preisträger.
Prof. Mauls beiden bisherigen Hauptwerke heißen „Herzberuhigungsklagen“ (erschienen 1988) und „Zukunftsbewältigung“, mit dem Untertitel „Eine Untersuchung altorientalischen Denkens“ (erschienen 1994). Das erste bearbeitet eine wichtige Gebetsgattung, das zweite die in einer großen Fülle von Variationen erhaltenen „Lösungsrituale“, das heißt genau durchdachte therapeutische Verfahren, die einen Patienten wieder in den Zustand des seelischen Gleichgewichts zurückführten. In diesen Werken tritt in erstaunlicher Anschaulichkeit die conditio humana in der damaligen Welt zutage, einer Welt, für deren Glauben und Denken alles miteinander im Zusammenhang stand und daher auch aus vielerlei Anzeichen auf die Zukunft geschlossen wurde. Gegenwärtig bearbeitet Stefan Maul einen weiteren zentralen Aspekt altorientalischen Denkens, nämlich die Korrelation zwischen mythischem und real-faßlichem Raum.
Die Entscheidung der Deutschen Forschungsgemeinschaft
(DFG), Prof. Maul als einzigen Geisteswissenschaftler mit drei Millionen
Mark Preissumme auszuzeichnen, fiel heute im Hauptausschuß der DFG.
Insgesamt wurden vierzehn Wissenschaftlerinnen und Wissenschaftler ausgezeichnet.
Die Mittel sind für Forschungsarbeiten in einem Zeitraum von fünf
Jahren vorgesehen. Ziel des Leibniz-Programms ist es, die Arbeitsbedingungen
herausragender Wissenschaftlerinnen und Wissenschaftler zu verbessern,
ihre Forschungsmöglichkeiten zu erweitern, sie von administrativem
Arbeitsaufwand zu
entlasten und ihnen die Beschäftigung besonders
qualifizierter Mitarbeiter zu erleichtern. Beim Einsatz der Mittel wird
den Preisträgern größtmögliche Freiheit eingeräumt.
Die DFG vergibt den Leibniz-Preis aus Sondermitteln des Bundes und der
Länder zum zwölften Mal.
Prof. Maul ist heute im Seminar für Sprachen und Kulturen des Vorderen Orients (Sandgasse 5-7; Telefon: 06221 543537) zu erreichen und steht den Medien gerne für weitere Gespräche zur Verfügung.
[English translation of the above article will appear
in our next issue. ]
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the D I R E C T O R
Y
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ZNAD (Assyrian Democratic Organization)
ZNAM (Archeology Magazine)
ZNAP (Associated Press International)
ZNBN (Bet-Nahrain Inc/ KBSV-TV "AssyriaVision")
ZNDA (Zenda: zenda@ix.netcom.com)
ZNMN (San Jose Mercury News)
ZNNQ (Nabu Quarterly)
ZNNV (Nineveh Magazine)
ZNRU (Reuters)
ZNSJ (San Jose Mercury News)
ZNTM (Time Magazine)
ZNUP (United Press International)
ZNUS (US News & World Report)
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W E L C O M
E T O Z E
N D A
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Zenda welcomes our new on-line subscribers from:
CORPORATE ACCOUNTS
Compass Design Automation
PERSONAL ACCOUNTS
Modesto, California
Toronto, Canada
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S A L
U T E
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Zenda wishes to thank the following individuals &
organizations whose
contributions appear in this issue:
Firas Jatou
Chicago, Illinois
Nineveh Ponsonby London, England
Albert Gabrial
Hollister, California
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